Friday, January 17, 2014

Darkly Delicious Details About How Kendall Kulper Sold Her Book

When I was getting SALT & STORM ready for submission in
March of 2013, I felt surprisingly zen-like through the whole process. Maybe it
was that it took me two years to get an agent and I had low expectations, maybe
it was that I personally didn’t have to email editors—whatever the reason, when
SALT & STORM went out, I wasn’t nervous or excited or anything. Cautiously
detached would probably describe it best. I trusted Sara, my agent, to reach
out to editors, I knew getting an editor was typically even longer and more
trying than getting an agent, and so I forgot about SALT & STORM, kept my
head down, and kept working.

Everything was going well for the first couple of days—a few
editors were interested, a few passed, a few hadn’t responded. I twiddled my
fingers.

For spring break, the husband and I traveled around Arizona
as a research trip for the Western I was working on. The night we landed I got
an email from Sara. She’d met an editor who had mentioned she was a fan of
Westerns and thought she might be a good fit for SALT & STORM. Would I mind
putting together a little blurb describing the Western’s plot also, to see what
she thought?

Hmm. Yes. The Western. The Western that had characters and rough
ideas and a logline, but no actual plot yet…

Undaunted, I emailed back that yes, I could definitely write
something, and then I spent a few hours wracking my brain. With the husband
giving thumbs up or down, I wrote a query-style summary of the Western, sent it
out, and crossed my fingers.

Radio silence! Again.

A few days later, Sara emailed me to tell me to hang tight,
there might be news coming… I cautiously high-fived the husband.

And then, the email every writer wants to see from their
agent: “Are you free to talk on the phone?” Yes. Always yes.

Sara told me the news, that Little, Brown was interested and
that the editor there wanted to talk to me. I made the mistake of standing up
during that phone call and had to literally grip the edge of the table to keep
from falling. I should also note that during this time, I was pretty strung out
on Nyquil, fighting a cold, and the minute I hung up the phone I thought “Oh
please don’t let that have been a fever dream.”

We set up a call with the editor, during which the time was
repeated to me, several times, but because I was fever-ridden and dumb, I
completely messed up the “different time zones” thing and assumed the call was
not one but two hours later than it
really was and then because I am even dumber, I had my ringer turned off. Yes,
brilliant. No bigs, just one of the most important phone calls of my life…

Luckily, I managed to figure out time and call the editor
right back, apologizing profusely for the terrible combination of nerves, math,
and Nyquil. And she was wonderful! Within the first five minutes, we were
sharing stories about the neighborhood where we both lived and gushing about
books we loved. She was like a brilliant, funny friend who is also incredibly
smart and editorially gifted. I loved her attitude towards editing and her
enthusiasm for SALT & STORM, and I hung up the phone practically buzzing.

And! Then! More! Waiting!

The next few days were a blur, checking my email while Sara
did her wonder-agent thing. ASIDE PLUG FOR AGENTS: I feel incredibly lucky to
have had Sara on my side. I watch enough Shark
Tank to know I am terrible when
it comes to pitching and selling something, especially when that something is
myself. But while I was teetering on the edge of a panic attack, Sara was
amazing: calm, professional, explaining the situation and assuring me that
things would go well. She was like the horse whisperer for frantic debut
authors.

In the end, we had a few different options but Little, Brown
always stood out. I mean, it’s the publisher of Little Women! Catcher in the
Rye! David Sedaris! They have an amazing catalogue and a fantastic roster
of YA books (I Hunt Killers, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, The Diviners, The Coldest Girl In Coldtown, etc etc etc). A lot of my favorite
books are LB books, and I knew they were beautifully edited and packaged, from
covers to promotion. From my conversation with the editor (the always-amazing
Bethany Strout), I knew my book would be in fabulous hands from the first draft
to the final copy. I knew SALT & STORM had the best possible home, and so I
was thrilled to say YES.

Aww, Kendall, this is such a great story! I absolutely love the circumstances that brought you where you are now - Nyquil and fever included. That is so awesome! I'm happy how things worked out for you. And Little, Brown is a fabulous publishing company! I wish you much success with your upcoming debut! Which, as a blogger/reviewer/reader, I cannot WAIT to read :D